Divekick: A Fighting Game for the Rest of Us

If you're anything like me, you enjoy watching and even playing the occasional fighting game, but pulling up combo lists in the menus often feels a bit like your first day of advanced Algebra: long, complicated, and so far out of your reach that you can't feasibly imagine yourself ever being good at it.

That's why I found myself mildly intrigued by the premise of Divekick. Yes, it's a fighting game starring different characters with varied abilities and strengths, and yes, it does require something of a technical skillset in order to master its mechanics.

But Divekick's goal has been different from others in its genre for some time. See, developers know that not everyone has the time to dump into mastering the complex movements of every Street Fighter character, and quite frankly, not everyone has the ability to execute on the basic skills needed in order to be good at the game in the first place. That's why they decided to strip things down and offer an experience that would teach players the basics of movement and timing while not bogging things down with complicated systems.

And just how did they manage to do this? By creating the world's first two-button fighting game.

Now, when I say two buttons, I mean TWO BUTTONS. One button allows a character to dive (jump), while the other makes them kick. Both characters jump around the screen, avoiding attacks while trying to time their own in an effort to score a one-hit kill and win the round.

Seriously, there's not even any d-pad movement in the game itself, instead relying on the jump to move your character around the screen. It's just two buttons, whose configuration you determine at the start of a match.

On the surface, this probably sounds a bit dull and shallow. After all, what's a fighting game without flashy combos? But despite the game's basic premise, there's still a lot that can be learned and enjoyed at the core of Divekick. Each of the characters handle differently, special moves are available to those who are able to execute their attacks effectively, and the game has a great sense of humor that will leave you laughing at its pithy one-liners and over-the-top presentation. And what's more, I actually found that my own skill and understanding of basic fighting game mechanics has improved somewhat after spending a fair amount of time playing. No, I won't be heading to EVO next year, but I'm happy enough with the fact that I can amply gauge the timing of my opponent's attacks. It's a start, anyway.

Sure, it does lack complex animations, and the overall look of the game itself is reminiscent of old browser-based flash games. But if you can manage to look past the bare bones presentation of the game itself, you'll find Divekick to be a clever and approachable fighting game that anyone can enjoy.